Something Wonderful
by CeliaEquus
Summary: Tony is nervous about watching 'The King and I' with his team; when he watched it with Rhodey and Pepper, Pepper developed a theory regarding the king and Tony. But surely his team-mates wouldn't see what she saw? Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, or any other Marvel thingummies, nor am I making money from this. Touch of Phil/Tony, aka Iron Taser.


"Something Wonderful"

There was no way this was going to happen again. Nope. Even though they'd been living with him on and off for nearly half a year now, there was no way they would see what Pepper thought she'd seen.

Just to make sure, Tony waited until she was on her honeymoon with Happy, and until Rhodey had left the country, before bringing Steve to this next stage of his education.

"_The King and I_," he said, queuing it up. "A fifties classic. Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno. You'll love it."

"Where are the backup boxes of tissues?" Bruce asked. Tony gave him a withering look.

"Very funny, Big Green," he said. Then he paused. "They're in the drinks cabinet. Where I _used_ to have alcohol."

"Good boy," Bruce said mildly, and he went over to the bar. Thor and Steve were on either side of the couch, with a pile of boxes between them and a bin either side, probably apprehensive about why they would need so many. Clint was near Thor's feet, with his own box. He'd deny it, even in the face of an alarming amount of evidence, but Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals just made him lose it.

Tony settled down on the floor in front of Coulson, waiting for Bruce to return. As soon as he was seated, more boxes on the floor in front of everyone – just in case – Natasha claimed his lap. They were friends now that he was teaching her yoga, and she was teaching him self-defence so that they wouldn't have to worry about him if ever he did get rid of the Hulk. (They would worry anyway; that went without saying.)

"Ready?" Tony asked, almost bouncing in his spot. "Hit it, JARVIS!"

Nearly three quarters of an hour into the movie Tony noticed Natasha giving him strange looks. It wasn't until the hour mark that she gasped.

"I think Pepper's right," she said. Tony's head jerked up.

"What?" he asked, understandably alarmed. Surely Pepper hadn't mentioned her theory to the Black Widow?

"What did Pepper say?" Clint asked. Natasha glanced at each of her team-mates and her former handler, ending with Tony. He shook his head minutely.

"Nothing," she said. "It's possible that I was mistaken."

"What did she say?" Steve insisted.

"If I'm right, then you'll see."

Tony shrank back, pressing against Phil's shins. The agent stroked his hair absently, and Tony pushed back into the touch without thinking.

Anna and the King of Siam had just had another bust-up, and the chief wife was begging Anna to stay and help them. Tony tensed as Lady Thiang began to sing.

'_This is a man who thinks with his heart,_

_His heart is not always wise._'

It was starting. Phil's hand stopped its movements.

'_This is a man who stumbles and falls,_

_But this is a man who tries._'

Clint's hand paused in his bowl of popcorn.

'_This is a man you forgive and forgive,_

_And help and protect as long as you live._'

Tony risked a glance, and he saw both Clint and Natasha shooting him those same funny looks. He resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. Or possibly remove his arc reactor. Or climb into Phil's lap and burrow into his jacket. Not that that was a bad idea under ordinary circumstances.

'_He will not always say_

_What you would have him say,_

_But now and then he'll say_

_Something wonderful_.'

Pepper knew him for years before she watched this movie with him! Why were they acting like this?!

'_The thoughtless things he'll do_

_Will hurt and worry you._

_Then, all at once, he'll do_

_Something wonderful_.'

"Tony," Steve said, looking at him, horrified. Tony had to try even harder to resist poking his tongue out at the captain. Thor was giving him the same look.

'_He has a thousand dreams_

_That won't come true._

_You know that he believes in them,_

_And that's enough for you._'

Bruce met Tony's gaze slowly, and Tony regretted his decision to watch this movie with them. Knowing them, they still would've seen the tenuous – at best! – parallel.

'_You'll always go along,_

_Defend him when he's wrong,_

_And tell him when he's strong,_

_He is wonderful._'

Phil was holding Tony's shoulders now, and they all kept looking at the billionaire.

'_He'll always need your love,_

_And so he'll get your love._

_A man who needs your love_

_Can be wonderful._'

"JARVIS, can you pause it there?" Natasha asked.

"Yes, Miss Romanov," the AI said, obliging before she had finished speaking.

"Tony," Steve repeated, still wide-eyed.

"Before _any_ of you begin," Tony said, pointing, "I am _not_ Yul Brynner. For one thing, I have hair."

"No one's saying you're Yul Brynner," Phil said, stroking Tony's neck with his thumbs. Tony steadfastly ignored the fact that this man could break his neck in zero-point-two seconds if he wanted to.

"And I am _not_ like the King of Siam," Tony continued.

"You kind of are, Tony," Clint said. "He's a king; you're… you know, Tony Stark. He has a bunch of wives; you have a bunch of exes."

"One-night-stands don't count," Tony said defensively. "And he has all those kids."

"The children are most pleasing," Thor said. Unfortunately, no one was going to let this topic go, not even the so-called Norse god. "You have many ambitious plans, Man of Iron."

"Yeah, and I can make them come true!"

"You can also be wrong," Natasha said.

"But we'll stick up for you all the same," Clint added.

"I've witnessed this personally," Bruce said.

"Not helping, Bruce," Tony said. "And I think with my brain, not my heart."

"And sometimes with an organ below the belt."

"Not helping! Ouch," he complained when Phil squeezed his shoulders too tightly.

"Sorry," the agent murmured.

"I'm not like the king," Tony said, pressing back into the gentler touch.

"You both act like children," Steve said. Tony scowled at him.

"Would you all quit it?" he said. "I had to put up with this from Pep and Rhodey when I made the mistake of watching it with them. I thought I was going to be safe with you."

"Stop," Phil said, trapping Tony with his hands, knees, and words. "There's one other thing."

"Not you, too," he muttered.

Phil rubbed Tony's upper arms. "You can be wonderful as well."

"Yeah," Clint said. "I think we were kind of building up to that. Thanks a lot, sir."

"You were?" Tony asked quietly, looking at them uncertainly. When they all reassured him, he tried to suppress a smile. It didn't really work, because they smiled back.

"Move," Phil said, nudging as Tony shuffled forward. Then he sat behind Tony and pulled him back. The others began to smirk, and he flipped them off, flushing.

"Start it back up, JARVIS," he said.

He stiffened when the king nearly whipped Tuptim, wondering what his friends were thinking now. But in the next scene, that thought disappeared in favour of an 'Oh, hell' moment. He knew what was coming up, and Bruce's face showed that he remembered as well.

Come to think of it, maybe a dozen tissue boxes wouldn't be enough. Phil must have seen the movie before, because he was holding Tony in a death grip, and might or might not have been sniffling already.

* * *

The twelve boxes of tissues were sufficient.

However, everyone was now more protective of him, a fact which was both baffling and annoying (and flattering). That was kind of a plus.

The real plus was across the counter from him, with mussed hair and bruises on his neck.

(Rumpled was a very good look on Phil Coulson.)

* * *

**There were only supposed to be hints of possible future Phil/Tony, but noooooo. I had to go and ship them properly. As usual. Bollocks.**

**This idea came to me while I was watching 'The King and I' the other day. I would marry the score of that movie/musical if I could. Truly. The parallel between the King and Tony is tenuous at best, erroneous at worst. But it popped into my head nonetheless, which led to this fic.**

**Please review!**


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